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Friday, July 27, 2012

The husband and I are going away for three short days. Three days might be short, but it’s better than no days at all, and we haven’t been without children since a couple days last fall. Even then, we were visiting friends, which was delightful and fantastic, but not the same as going away ALONE. The last time we went away alone…well, I can’t remember. We’ve visited friends, we’ve been to conferences, but alone? Just that word is making me a bit weak in the knees. Alone. Happy sigh.

1) There will be no children. None at all. Unfortunately, there’s a tiny bit of stress for me regarding the babysitting arrangements, but hopefully I’ll quickly forget about it. (Please pray it goes smoothly?) The facts are that even though I feel stressed about it, the plans have come together very smoothly for once.

2) Jeni’s ice cream: I plan to eat it every day. Maybe that won’t happen, but I am dreaming about it anyway. The real question is, what flavors will I get? Some are guaranteed – at least one time I’ll have the salty caramel and Queen City Cayenne. I absolutely will be trying the Riesling Poached Pear. I loved the Sweet Corn and Black Raspberry I had last year. (if there is a flavor that tastes more like Ohio summers, I’m not sure what it would be.) I’ll quit with this discussion for now before I decide to just pack up the kids and drive over today. Have you had Jeni’s? What flavors should I try this season?

3) The Ohio State Reformatory: To be honest, Wendell is probably looking forward to the actual tour a bit more than me. I am mainly looking forward to quoting Shawshank the entire time. There’ll probably be some opera singing. I’ll wax eloquent about how fear holds you prisoner and how hope sets you free. (It might be embarrassing when I tell the tour guide that I understand he’s a man who knows how to get things. I’ll try to refrain.)

4) Riding in the car with a boy. Adult conversation. No backseat questions. Playlists are being made as we speak. Any recommendations for driving music? It doesn’t even have to be family friendly – we’re gonna roll with some grown folks music. We’re gonna stop whenever we want to. If we want to get lunch, it won’t need to be a drive-thru or Bob Evan’s. We can eat whatever the heck we want. And if we see a sign that says, “Sale – Amish: half-price”, you can bet your sweet bippy that we’re gonna stop and buy us an Amish housekeeper. (I might be a little regretful that we didn’t stop when I saw this particular sign on the way to visit my new niece earlier this week.)

5) I am confident that the pinnacle of my entire trip is going to be a full night’s sleep in a quiet room. There will be no baby sharing my sleeping space with his inappropriate giggling (don’t ask) and 2 am raspberries to scare the ever-living crap out of me. Just me and the man I love, and we will sleep as late as we want to because we will not wake up with a creepy child three inches from our faces just watching us. No toddler will be in their room with a constant “mama?? Mama!!! Mama??? Mama!!!” until I go to get her up. My only possible regret is that I have recently started to teach my ten-year-old that if he gets up before us, he is duty bound to start coffee. Who will start my coffee? No matter, it will be glorious, and I absolutely cannot wait.